Death certificates can provide valuable genealogy information
for researchers. Most death certificates will provide a place and date of birth
for the deceased individual, information that may be elusive otherwise. Some
death certificates will even provide the names of the parents. Frequently, the
death certificate may be the only easily identified link back to a person’s
birth and his or her ancestors.
The Minnesota Historical Society now has an online index of death
certificates in the state. The database currently indexes the years from 1908
through 1955. The Minnesota state government became custodian of death records
starting in 1908, and these are the records indexed by the Minnesota Historical
Society. Earlier records were kept by the county government and are not included
in the new online database.
I took a look at the Minnesota Death Certificates Index database
and found it very easy to use. From the search page you have options for entering
first/last name (exact, contains, starts with, or ends with), date of death
(expressed as a range of years), county to search (or you can search all counties)
and how you want to arrange the results displayed (by last name, first name,
death year, and death county.)
After specifying a search, within a second or two a new page appears,
listing those items that match your search criteria. Search results have a place
for name, certificate ID, date of birth, place of birth, mother's maiden name,
date of death, and county of death. However, not all the fields will be filled
in. For instance, in all the searches I conducted the date of birth, place of
birth, and mother’s maiden name were blank in this index.
Keep in mind that this is strictly an index. The information in
this database does not include all the information contained on the original
death certificates. Information about date and place of birth or parents’
names may be missing in this online index but usually can be found on the original
certificates. If you find an ancestor listed in this database, you will always
want to obtain a photocopy of the original death certificate. The Minnesota
Historical Society’s Web pages make it easy to order the certificate(s)
by mail. When viewing the index listing for an individual, you can click on
"Add to Order." You may continue to search in the database and even
add more items to the order form.
When you are finished with your searches, you click on "View
Order." The order form will be automatically generated by the Society’s
Web page and displayed on your screen. However, you must send the order form
and payment information by old-fashioned "snail mail." You simply
print the order form on your local printer, and write a check ($8.00 per certificate
requested) or enter your credit card information on the order form. You then
send the order to the Minnesota Historical Society. The Society will send photocopies
of the certificates to you, normally within three weeks of your order date.
The Minnesota Death Certificates database is an excellent tool
for anyone researching Minnesota ancestors between 1908 and 1955. You can access
the database yourself at: people.mnhs.org/dci/Search.cfm.
Dick Eastman Online
